Generally, a Global Positioning System (GPS) is a device for recognizing and determining three-dimensional coordinate values (hereinafter referred to as “coordinate values”) corresponding to the position of a GPS receiver using three or more GPS satellites.
This concept is applied to an Indoor Global Positioning System (IGPS). U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,543 discloses information using this concept.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,543 discloses transmitters corresponding to the above-described GPS satellites, and a receiver corresponding to the GPS receiver.
Each of the transmitters emits two rotating fan beams. The rotating fan beams may be laser fan beams or another type of light emission medium.
Hereinafter, IGPS means a localized indoor positioning system, which includes transmitters corresponding to GPS satellites and a receiver corresponding to a GPS receiver.
The receiver receives rotating fan beams emitted from the transmitters, and determines positions relative to the transmitters. Here, since the rotating fan beams cross each other at predetermined angles, the coordinate values of the receiver for receiving the rotating fan beams, that is, the position or altitude thereof, can be measured.
Meanwhile, the basic concept of existing autonomous mobile robots is to travel on flat surfaces, that is, horizontal flat surfaces, using self-generated information or real-time positioning information transmitted through communication
In particular, one core element of such conventional autonomous mobile robots is a drive mechanism, and the drive mechanism includes chain, wheel, and multilegged-type drive mechanisms.
Meanwhile, spider robots or attachment robots are robots which overcome the limitations of the flat-surface mobile robots and travel on ceilings or vertical surfaces.
The conventional ceiling-surface/vertical-surface mobile robots cannot travel autonomously, as compared with general flat-surface mobile robot, and are semi-autonomous mobile robots which must ride on fixed rails or be remotely controlled by a person.
In particular, such equipment using rails has limitations on the traveling range or operational area, and cannot be used in practice in an unsuitable installation space or a place where frames, such as rails, cannot be easily attached.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a conventional surface attachment mobile robot 1 includes a vacuum generator 2 located on the ground so as to form a vacuum space for realizing attachment to the surface of a wall; an auxiliary controller 3 for controlling the vacuum generator 2; a main controller 4 for controlling the surface attachment mobile robot 1; and a wireless controller 5 capable of being attached/detached to/from the main controller 4, driving motors and the vacuum generator 2, and controlling the surface attachment mobile robot 1. The conventional surface attachment mobile robot 1 is a semi-autonomous mobile robot which always requires the wireless controller 5.
Further, since the conventional surface attachment mobile robot 1 has a bi-directional wheel structure, it has a disadvantage in that it cannot freely travel on the inside surface of a cargo hold.
Furthermore, there are no ceiling surface/vertical surface-dedicated autonomous mobile robots which recognize their own positions and reach destinations.